Tokyo Flash

[richard_uk]

A friend of mine sent me a Tokyo Flash watch to fix, he'd replaced the batteries but couldn't get the back on as it needs a press, I noticed the finish has come off the case where he used whatever tool to prise the back off, and you can clearly see the case is made of brass, the watch is a Morse Code model, on the TF site it says in the description "The quality is second to none with 150 grams of solid stainless, this watch is built like a Navy Seal!"

I wonder how many more of their solid ss watches are actually chrome plated brass :?

[leddwatch]

Hey Richard, have you ever heard the term 'you lie like cheap Japanese watch'
Now you know where that comes from......!

[rewolf]

"The quality is second to none with 150 grams of solid stainless, this watch is built like a Navy Seal!"

at a close look, they don't use the word "steel" - stainless brass with crome plating? they don't lie, but the description is indeed a *little* misleading :? not very nice...

[richard_uk]

stainless brass? is there such a thing :?

more deception than missleading IMO, if I'd bought the watch I'd be asking for a refund.

[retroleds]

Yeah, that's definately misleading. They could have just said chrome plated and not discussed the "solid" aspect. Brass isn't bad - probably 90% of the vintage LEDs are solid or plated brass..."base metal".

FYI:Brass and bronze are the same thing - both are copper alloys,brighter colored ones are generally referred to as brass.

[redled]

Speaking of deceptive advertising of LED watches, I recently bought an LED watch from ledwatchshop.com. I soon noticed a discrepancy in the pictures on the website. One picture showed the watch as having 5 dots per segment, another showed it having 3 dots per segment. I wrote to the seller pointing out the discrepancy and asking which picture accurately portrayed the watch. In the reply the seller thanked me for pointing it out to him and said he wasn't aware of the discrepancy, and that the actual watch has 3 dots per segment. I month later the false picture is still on the website.

When I recieved the actual watch I found that the picture was even more deceptive. The color of the display in the picture was deep, dark red, like vintage LED's. The actual watch has orange LED's, not red.

The description on the website stated the watch had a 'brushed' finish. The actual watch had a bead-blasted finish, which scratches very, very, easily.

I returned the watch on the grounds that it was a different watch than the one represented on the website, and was given a refund minus 10% 'restocking fee', but the deceptive description is still being used on the website, selling a watch that doesn't exist.

I will think long and hard before doing business with ledwatchshop.com again.

[fronzelneekburm]

I never believe stock photos, i have seen so many that show interesting displays and then come with some 10 cent fanasia module... :?

That flaw from TokyoFlash is actually still among the minor ones, as they only explicit claim the backplate to be of steel. Stainless brass? You guess...

[collector]

The Toyko Flash and Ledwatchshop stories just reinforce my VERY NEGATIVE opinion about almost all the "NEW LED's" being marketed today.

I said almost because there is one new one that met all my expecations (plus those of other members of this forum) and it is Jeff's Majestyk watch. I know Ed and others have reviewed it and anything I might add is redundant, BUT, I do feel it rates special mention as a very nicely made new LED watch!!! Wish all new manafacturers put as much thought and effort into there product as Jeff obviously did. (AND NO, Jeff did not pay me to say anything nice:)

[Fitron]

I suspect that the major difference is that Jeff is an enthusiast whilst the rest where designed to a price and are a marketing led project. Don't forget that Jeff designed the Majestyk as the watch he wanted to wear on HIS wrist so he was bound to go the extra mile on it, which meant that we all gained :) Thanks Jeff! I look forward to future editions of thedigitalwatch reviews as sooner or later some more modern leds are going to come under Ed's eyes.

If I'm right ledwatchshop is a member (Troy) - any response from you ?

[LEDWatchStop]

HI Guys..this in response to the comment made by Redled. It would be wrong for you to judge the listing for the NeoClassic as deception. Deception requires premeditation. Please understand that we manage thousands of products and occassionaly use factory specs for listing information. Also..the photo for this watch is a stock photo. Yep...we are guilty there. But for most of our watches..we work hard to produce extra (true) photos. This is a huge job as you can imagine.....so we are always working to catch up. Regardless...this is no excuse...I believe in the importance of accuracy and will "get er done".

Thank you for letting us know that there was a discrepancy in the photo regarding number of dots per segment and that the finish is "satin" not "Brushed". I have checked the watch you returned. It DOES have red LED..not orange. Saturation depends on the intensity setting (6 settings).

All in all..the watch in question is one of the only two LED watches on our site that we consider "Starter" led watches. as the NeoClassic is a cheaper LED watch..it is priced accordingly. I agree...it is not as worthy as Majestyk, Shadow, Binary, Tokyoflash..etc.

Personally, I am a passionate LED watch enthusiast. I sometimes even dream about them (how weird is that?)..and I have a growing collection of vintage. Our company also has some of our own designs on the market and we have new (retro LED) designs underway. (Wait till you see what we are building next!)

A few things you may not understand about restocking fee policy. You ordered the watch and it was shipped for free. Restocking fee is necessary to recover cost to ship, materials, labour...and the credit card fee we are charged at time of transaction. The policy is in place to discourage folks from carelessly buying just to take a look.....at our expense. LED watches are curious...and Lotsa people would love to "See for Free". We will be happy to offset your $8 wound by offering a discount on the future purchase of any watch (or clock from our mini clock site).

Regarding quality.....we stand behind every watch we sell! Since the opening of our store..there has been very few quality issues. However...in the rare occassion where there has been problem, we will fix or replace without fail. As for the Morse Code..I am curious now...and will check with Japan and get some insight.

Cheers!

Troy

[redled]

Thanks for your response Troy. In fairness to you, you did refund without a problem, and I can understand the restocking fee better now.

I guess what bothered me most was the pictures still being used on the website. It still bothers me, but as you say it will be corrected i'll take your word for it, and keep an open mind about future purchases.

I have to disagree with you about the color of the LEDs though. To my eyes, they register as orange, particularly as held next to a classic LED watch. The brightness setting didn't seem to have an effect on the actual color, at least to me. They may technically be called red, but they are not the same red i've seen on 99% of all other LED watches, old or new, and definitely not the red that the pictures would suggest.

In any case, i'm willing to put this experience behind me and start with a clean slate. You seem sincere, so I will not avoid Ledwatchstop as a source in the future.

[Fitron]

Quite simply the only way we as customers can get improved service is to point out to the suppliers what we don't like and see if they take it from there. If not then we can take our money elsewhere - All credit to Troy as he takes criticism (including from me in the past) and with good grace.

[LEDWatchStop]

We posted new photos. The NeoClassic was a bugger to photograph because of the mirrored lens. But....we "got er done"!

Thanks for all your input!

Troy
www.ledwatchstop.com

[redled]

Just an update; I ordered the Zeon scrolling LED from Ledwatchstop and recieved it today. This is a beautiful watch! It looks even better than in the pictures, and the quality looks superb. This watch is a beautiful modern tribute to the classics of the 70's, thanks Troy!

[Fitron]

Any chance of some more videos like this one troy? It's nice to see the scrolling action for real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU1rRFNtPl4

And don't be shy about promoting any more youtube vids - free advertising :)